Southern Pines Brewing Company Peach Mango Thief Fruited New England IPA

Posted on by Evan

I see more and more of the New England Style IPA or hazy IPA’s out there. This Southern Pines Brewing Company Peach Mango Thief New England IPA, 6.5% ABV and an IBU of 20, which is brewed in Southern Pines North Carolina brewed with loads of Lactose and oats, then dry-hopped with Azacca and Citra hops. Conditioned on Peach and Mango Purée, vanilla beans and coconut. Peach Mango Thief pours a darker yellow color with a three finger white head with nice retention that gives off tropical fruit aromas of peach and mango with a nice sweetness and with touches of faint bitter hop notes. Taste is much similar to the nose but you get the coconut and vanilla beans with you peach and mango with a little mild hop note coming in towards the back of the mouth that finishes with a nice tropical sweetness with a faint hop note that gives you a tropical aftertaste that lingers a bit with a medium mouthfeel. Southern Pines Brewing Company Peach Mango Thief New England IPA hits the nail on the New England IPA head, it’s got a really nice tropical fruit flavor with a lower bitterness and a nice flow of sweetness that make for a refreshing beer, one that gets an A. Peach Mango Thief is not overly sweet, it has just enough to meld with the tropical fruits as well as the coconut. So if you haven’t had Southern Pines Brewing Company Peach Mango Thief New England IPA then leave right now and go try it! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Victory Brewing Company Charlotte Brew’d Juice Boost Dry-Hopped Sour Ale

Posted on by Evan

Victory Brewing Company Charlotte Brew’d Juice Boost Dry-Hopped Sour Ale, 7.2% ABV. I had this is a Charlotte Brew’d Flight at Victory and Southern Tier Brewing Companies Charlotte brewery, Brewers at 4001 Yancey, so I bought a four pack. Juice Boost pours a golden apple juice color with a one and a half finger white head with fruity aroma of citrus and faint grape wafting from it with a bit of a slight hop note. Taste on Juice Boost is fruity on first contact with orange some grapefruit that is followed by a faint hop note that is tart and carries itself to the middle of mouth with a slight dry note on the back of the mouth and continues on with a fruity dry citrus finish with a slight hoppy dry orange juice aftertaste with a light mouth feel. Victory Brewing Company Charlotte Brew’d Juice Boost Dry-Hopped Sour Ale is easy to drink and with an ABV of 7.2% is slightly dangerous but overall it’s refreshing and I give this Sour Ale a B+. The sourness could be a little more pronounced on this with just a little more hop note as well, but Victory Brewing Company Charlotte Brew’d Juice Boost Dry-Hopped Sour Ale is not a bad beer and one that I would recommend. Cheers! please enjoy responsibly!

Westbrook Brewing Co. Lemon Cucumber Gose

Posted on by Evan

Westbrook Brewing Co. Lemon Cucumber Gose, 4% ABV is yet another variation on their delicious Gose and is brewed down in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Lemon Cucumber Gose pours a light to medium gold color with a one finger fizzy with a a head that gives you tart vegetal aromas with some nice spicy citrus notes. Flavor is good with a big quick punch of cucumber up front with a nice spiced, salted lemon in the middle with more vegetal citrus on the back with a lemon cucumber finish and a tart aftertaste that lingers with bits of lemon all with a light mouthfeel. Westbrook Brewing Co. Lemon Cucumber Gose is very interesting and well balanced all around and well deserving of an A+, it’s probably the best variation of their Gose and the cucumber and lemon and balanced very well for a refreshing beer. This is a beer I recommend trying as this is very quickly becoming my new favorite beer. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Commonwealth Brewing CO. Speakeasy Hibiscus Passionfruit Pomegranate Gose Ale.

Posted on by Evan

Commonwealth Brewing Co. in Virginia Beach Virginia brews Speakeasy Hibiscus Passionfruit Pomegranate Gose Ale, 5.2% ABV, which I purchased from Pop The Top Bottle Shop here in Charlotte, NC. Speakeasy pours a red color with a dark pink hue and a one finger white quickly fading head that gives off light sweet aromas that are fruity and a bit salted. Taste is sweet with a hint of a nice spicy note with hints of juicy fruits that come in the middle alongside the spicy note and stays on the back as the spice fades a bit, it’s all refreshing and easy drinking with a nice light salted fruity finish and a nice tropical flowery fruity aftertaste with a light mouthfeel. This beer is a good warm weather beer and very crushable. I give Commonwealth Brewing Co. Speakeasy Hibiscus Passionfruit Pomegranate Gose Ale an A-. I think that after three the flavor would start becoming a bit too much but it still a good Gose one that I would highly recommend, one that I will go right back too. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Trophy Brewing 90° Underneath The Palm Trees Pineapple Hopshake DIPA

Posted on by Evan

Trophy Brewing Co. 90° Underneath Palm Trees Pineapple Hopshake DIPA, 8% ABV from Raleigh, North Carolina and purchased from Pop The Top Craft Beer is riding the wave of milkshake IPAs and this is brewed pineapple, Lactose Sugar, and Vanilla. 90° Underneath Palm Trees Pineapple pours a hazy pineapple juice yellow color with three and a half finger of pillowy white foam that slowly dissipates into some nice lacing, with tropical juicy aromas of sweet pineapple and citrus fruits with hints of a faint hoppy note. 90° Underneath Palm Trees Pineapple has an easy drinking taste with juicy tropical pineapple, orange citrus, with a nice sweetness and a low hoppy note on the end, that finishes tropical juicy and has an aftertaste of nice ripe sweet fruits that beckons you for another sip. 90° Underneath Palm Trees Pineapple is a really good beer that is easy drinking and refreshing. I give Trophy Brewing Co. 90° Underneath Palm Trees Pineapple Hopshake DIPA an A+. It doesn’t drink like it’s an 8% Double IPA which I highly recommend trying as this might become my new favorite! Cheers! please enjoy responsibly!

New Sarum Salisbury Brewing CO. Griffin Series Princess PeaHazy IPA

Posted on by Evan

I went out to Pop The Top Craft Beer Shop for a few beers and brought back New Sarum Salisbury Brewing Co. Princess Peach Hazy IPA, 7.0% ABV & 20 IBU (International Bittering Unit)from Salisbury, North Carolina which is brewed with Blood Peaches and Lactose into what is called a Milkshake IPA. Princess Peach pours a hazy medium yellow color with a two finger white head with a sweet aroma of vanilla fruit, peaches, a nice bubble gum acidic notes hitting your nose with a vanilla bubble gum flavor upfront then slightly hoppy in the middle with a fruit peach acidic flavor come on the back as the hoppy flavor slowly grows, and finishes with a little hoppy fruity sweetness. Aftertaste is sweet and peachy with a light acidic note and faint bubble gum with a medium mouthfeel. Sarum Salisbury Brewing Co. Princess Peach Hazy IPA really surprised me with its uniquely delicious flavor, which none were out of place. Sarum Salisbury Brewing Co. Princess Peach Hazy IPA is well deserving of an A+. A really well brewed be with awesome milkshake fruitiness that is very tasty. I highly recommend trying this beer. I will come right back to this again! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Throwback Thursday: Southern Tier Brewing Company Blackwater Series Plum Noir.

Posted on by Evan

Originally posted on July 4th, 2014.


During the summer time the store shelves are filled with light, fruity, hoppy, wheat and less malty beers. But one day I was in the grocery store and found a beer that you wouldn’t expect to find. This Southern Tier, Blackwater Series, Plum Noir, 8.0% ABV. This is an imperial porter brewed with Italian plums. Southern Tier also uses 2-row malt, caramel malt, barley flakes, chocolate malt, puréed plums, Chinook & Willamette hops. Plum Noir pours a very dark color, nearly black. But as I held it to the light I found a little brown hue to it. There is a one finger tan head that stays a while and make somewhat nice lacing. I found no light coming through the glass with no carbonation bubbles. The aroma is a coffee-like bitterness with a very faint chocolate aroma. The entire aroma on this porter is mostly the coffee like bitterness. The taste on Plum Noir is a mild coffee bitterness followed by a little mild chocolate sweetness. You don’t get a lot of the plums on the taste, but you do get a very little but faint plum earthiness in the back of your mouth. Plum Noir has a toasted grain with hints of caramel in there as well. The mouthfeel is medium with a little mild roasted finish that leads into an aftertaste of bitterness with chocolate. Southern Tier’s Plum Noir could be better, so it is receiving a B-. The sweetness could be a little more, but just a pinch. The plums aren’t really there but what I did taste was good. I like this porter. It sounds really interesting, but doesn’t taste as such, but still a good effort. I wouldn’t have this again but not right away. It is a good beer and something a little different for this time of year and all the summer beers. So go and try this one and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Lagunitas Brewing Company & Short’s Brew Passion Grass West By Mindwest

Posted on by Evan

Purchased Lagunitas Brewing Company & Short’s Brew Passion Grass North By Midwest, 4.6% ABV from the local Harris Teeter grocery store. Passion Grass North By Midwest is a pale ale and pours a yellow color with a bright one finger white head that gives off very faint hop aroma with sour, tart grassy aromas that then lead into a bitter, sour, fruity lemon, tropical, grassy, flavor that finishes with a tart bitterness and a fruited tart bitter after taste with a light mouth feel. Lagunitas Brewing Company & Short’s Brew Passion Grass North By Midwest is not good I give this a F+. The tart sour flavor do not blend well with the bitterness of the pale ale. No it’s not good, it taste more like fresh fruit that has gone past it ripeness and is spoiling. No I don’t recommend that you try Lagunitas Brewing Company & Short’s Brew Passion Grass North By Midwest, it is bad but I did finish my twelve ounces and I will not go back to it! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Willmington Brewing Company Seasonal Bartender Tropical Milkshake India Pale Ale

Posted on by Evan

Willmington Brewing Company Seasonal Bartender Tropical Milkshake India Pale Ale, 7.8% ABV purchased locally from Pop the Top Bottle Shop is brewed with Pale malts, flaked wheat, oats Carapils, Lactose sugar, Azacca, and Chinook hops, dry hopped first with Ekuanot then dry hopped with Mosaic and Amarillo. Seasonal Bartender is brewed with guavas, pineapples and mangos in Willmington, North Carolina and pours an hazy yellow orange juice color with a two finger off white heads that slowly fades into wonderful lacing giving off sweet juicy tropical fruit notes with a slight cream scent that take you to a sweet juicy flavor with touches of bitterness and some creamy notes with a nice cream bitter juicy fruit finish and a similar aftertaste that linger a bit with a creamy medium mouthfeel. This Milkshake IPA is a relatively (2-3 years) new fad within craft beer and one that is slowly growing within. The whole IPA style and Willmington Brewing Company Seasonal Bartender Tropical Milkshake India Pale is a good beer, getting an A here. I find that the lactose does cut back some the hop bitterness so that isn’t a bitter punch in the face but at the same time, it not keeping and bitterness away from your taste buds. The lactose also brings out a sweetness within the fruity flavors adding a new layer of cream bittersweetness. Willmington Brewing Company Seasonal Bartender Tropical Milkshake India Pale is a beer that I recommend but not something that you can have more than two pints of seeing how the flavor is a bit stronger than some beers, but otherwise a great beer! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Burial Beer Co. The Prayer Belgian Blonde With Apricots

Posted on by Evan

Burial Beer Co. The Prayer Belgian Blonde with Apricots, 6.2% ABV from Asheville North Carolina which I purchased here in Charlotte from Pop the Top Bottle Shop, this beer uses raw wheat from Carolina Ground and more than 800 pounds of Apricots to brew this Belgian Blonde. The Prayer Belgian Blonde with Apricots pours a medium and somewhat murky orange color with a two finger wheat head that steadily fades into itself with decent lacing left throughout the glass giving off slightly sharp fruity tart aromas with some sour notes that lead into a crisp, tart, fruity, sour taste with some sweet touches coming through with a yeast note on the back of the mouth with a tart fruited somewhat light sour finish and a tart apricot aftertaste that linger with a bit of a tart sweet and sour vibe to it with a medium mouthfeel. I have come to like all of Burial Beer Co. beer and this does not disappoint it is an A. Everything going on in this beer is well balanced and well brewed and as a little similarity to a light Saison beer, which they also do well. I highly recommend trying Burial Beer Co. The Prayer Belgian Blonde with Apricots it not overly tart or sour, just enough so you know that the sour/tart fruit is there. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!